We all love new inventions. 1 _________________________________________________. But have all these inventions really improved the quality of our lives? Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen. 2 _______________________________________________. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, with no telephone, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? 3 ________________________________________________________________.

   One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10and Thomas, 7. spent nine weeks in a house of the 1940s. 4 _________________________________________. The grandmother, Lyn, said, “5__________________________________________________”. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy, beer-drinking granny to one who cooked things”.

A. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phone. B. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. C. Perhaps because they live simpler lives. D. The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes. E. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.

   We all love new inventions. 1 _________________________________________________. But have all these inventions really improved the quality of our lives? Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings and a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen. 2 _______________________________________________. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How happy do you feel? Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, with no telephone, no car, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? 3 ________________________________________________________________.

   One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10and Thomas, 7. spent nine weeks in a house of the 1940s. 4 _________________________________________. The grandmother, Lyn, said, “5__________________________________________________”. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy, beer-drinking granny to one who cooked things”.

A. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phone. B. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. C. Perhaps because they live simpler lives. D. The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes. E. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.

We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival（春节）. There is a name for each Chinese year. We may call it the year of the sheep , the year of the monkey or the year of the dog. And this year is the year of the horse.
Before New Year’s Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On New Year’s Eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner, all the family stay up late to welcome the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people put on their new clothes and go to visit their friends and relatives（亲戚）. They say “good luck” and some other greetings to each other. People usually have a very good time during the festival.
【小题1】How many Chinese festivals are talked about (谈论）in this passage ?

A．One.

B．Two.

C．Three.

D．Four.

【小题2】We can find every Chinese year is given ___________ name.

A．an animal

B．a plant

C．a family

D．a full

【小题3】How do Chinese people usually spend New Year’s Eve ?

A．They put on new clothes and go to the park .

B．They visit their friends and relatives

C．They are busy shopping and cleaning their houses

D．They have a big dinner and stay up late to welcome the New Year.

【小题4】On New Year’s Day, people say “___________” to each other when they meet

A．Merry Christmas	B．Good luck
C．Happy New Year	D．Both B and C

【小题5】The best title for this passage (本文的最佳题目)is ____________

A．Good Time	B．The Spring Festival
C．Big Dinner	D．The Year of the Horse

Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy.  After all，you probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However，they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.
Do you know what a 'territory' is? A territory is an area that an animal，usually the male，claims(声称)as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same kind are welcome. Your garden and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten(威胁)you，you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.
If so，you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time，especially at nesting(筑巢)season. So he is screaming all the time，whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird's song，and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs..
You can see that birds have a language of their own. Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories.
【小题1】 Some scientists believe that most of the time bird's singing is actually _______.

A．away of warning	B．an expression of happiness
C．an expression of anger	D．away of greeting

【小题2】What is a bird's "territory"?.

A．A place where families of other kinds are not accepted.

B．A place where a bird may shut at the top of its voice

C．An area for which birds fight against each other.

D．An area which a bird considers to be its own.

【小题3】 Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?

A．Because they want to invite more friends.

B．Because they want to find outsiders around.

C．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.

D．Because their singing helps remove their fears.

【小题4】How does the writer explain bird's singing?

A．By comparing birds with human beings.	B．By reporting experiment results.
C．By describing birds' daily life.	D．By telling a bird's story.

We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival. There is a name for each Chinese year. We may call it the year of the sheep, the year of the monkey or the year of the pig. And this year is the year of dragon. Before New Year’s Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On New Year’s Eve, there is a big family dinner. After dinner all the families stay up late to welcome the New Year. On the first day of the New Year, people put on the new clothes and go to visit their friends. They say “Good luck” and some other greetings (问候) to each other. People usually have a very good time during the festival.
【小题1】How many Chinese festivals are talked about in this passage?

A．One

B．Two

C．Three

D．Four

【小题2】We can find that every Chinese year is given ______ name.

A．an animal

B．a plant

C．a family

D．a full

【小题3】The underlined phrase “stay up” in the passage means “______”.

A．建造

B．张贴

C．熬夜

D．起立

【小题4】On New Year’s day, people say “______” to each other when they meet.

A．Merry Christmas

B．Good luck

C．Happy New Year

D．Both B and C

【小题5】The best title (标题) for this passage is ______.

A．Good time

B．The Spring Festival

C．Big dinner

D．The Year of the Dragon